What if the food you were eating right now was not what you thought it was? Instead of being grown like that rest of your food, taking a certain length of time or only growing during certain seasons, it was genetically modified to grow faster and with no consideration to season at all. This concept as farfetched as it may sound is not so farfetched after all with the production of genetically modified GM salmon trying to make its way into our fishers markets and grocery stores today. This process has been going on for almost 20 years, being done to crops and animals alike, however, GM salmon will be the first commercial GM food animal to hit the American market. However, with first come questions such as “what is the difference between salmon on the market currently and the genetically altered ones and is it harmful or harmless?”
Most of the foods that we consume from grocery stores are products of artificial selection in which humans breed select animals or plants together because of their desirable traits that we see as useful and beneficial. However, genetically modifying a food is a process that is completely different. For GM salmon, scientists are inserting the growth gene from the Pacific Chinook salmon and a switch-on gene from the Ocean Pout into the fertilized eggs of Atlantic salmon ("Clarified: What does," 2010). The Pacific Chinooks growth genes will allow the genetically altered salmon to grow to its full adult size in half the time, while the Ocean Pout switch-on gene will allow it to grow during the winter and summer months ("Clarified: What does," 2010). Ultimately, instead of waiting approximately 36 months to reach their eight-pound market ready weight, we would only be waiting 18 months, allowing the GM salmo...
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The rainbow trout is known for not dying after spawning and for surviving for up to 8 years – in comparison to the Pacific salmon and other Atlantic salmon. However, many biologists wanted to know how they were able to survive and which genus of species they were closely related to. After several sequencing and genetic studies, it was then determined that they originated from Pacific salmon. Based on the results, they were found to have similar growth hormone genes. The two types of growth hormone genes were isolated and sequenced from sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). The genes encoded proteins of 210 amino acids and showed considerable similarity to gr...
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the AquAdvantage salmon for consumption. The salmon has been genetically engineered to grow faster than the conventional farmed salmon.
Mihn studies indicates that Salmon’s health benefits are the cause of the reduction of violence in prisoners however although salmon is healthier than other animal-based foods, particularly red meat, when other researchers compares salmon to truly healthy alternatives like plant-based protein, which has no cholesterol, and can be easier to source and cheaper, Salmon comes in a comfortable second on the Omega-3 Fatty Acid scale.
Pinkish in color, with spots on their eight fins and back, thin long body with an average weight of 23 kg and length up to 76 cm, and a distinct back fin called the adipose fin. They are saltwater fish which spawns in fresh water, travelling over 20,000 kilometers in the ocean with speeds of up to 50 km per hour. They can jump more than four meters to climb waterfalls and any obstacles they encounter in the water. The Northwest Salmon is one miraculous fish. However, Northwest Salmon are now on the verge of being protected under the Endangered Species Act due to their dramatic decline in their population in the Northwest region of the United States. Their declines in numbers are causing great problems for their surrounding ecosystem, those that rely on the salmon as a food source, and the fishing industry. All of which humans are contributing to all these by overfishing, either commercial or for sport, and the construction of dams on major rivers. Then with the attempt to fix this problem, fisheries, or farms for fish, end up genetically changing the fish and making them more vulnerable to predator fish. Predator fish that are nonindigenous to the rivers the salmon swim in. Eating the salmon’s food or in most cases, eating the salmon themselves. If all of these acts continue at full force, I predict that the Northwest Salmon will not be naturally running up and down our American rivers within the next 50 years if not everyone is totally aware of their situation.
Not all fish caught are utilized as food for humans. Popular supplements such as Omega-3 are derived from commercially caught fish. In addition to that daily usage products like fertilizers, cosmetic ingredients, vitamins, gelatins and even pigments can all be prepared from by products of fish that has been commercially caught.
One of the sectors facing the largest impact is the seafood industry. Fish products are prevalent in pet food products as well as human diets. Given such a high demand on the seafood industry,
Atlantic salmon have become the species of choice to raise on farms because they are more adaptable to the farming techniques and make better use of feed so they produce more salmon with less feed. Not everybody agrees however, that farmed salmon raised in net pens are healthy for the environment or for you to eat. Over the years, there have been numerous stories in the media that have pointed out the negatives of farm raised salmon. These arguments have ranged from wastes from salmon farms, the spreading of disease from farmed to wild fish, the negative impacts of farm raised fish escapes and interacting with native fish, and recently, the effects of farmed salmon consumption on human health. The latest issue that the media got there hands on and consequently got the public concerned, was a report that polychlorinated... ...
Food is an essential part of everyday life without it one could not survive. Every day we make choices on what we put in to our bodies. There are countless varieties of food to choose from to meet the diverse tastes of the increasing population. Almost all food requires a label explaining the ingredients and the nutritional value allowing consumers to make informed decisions on what they are consuming. However, many may not be considering where that food is coming from or how it has been produced. Unfortunately, there is more to food than meets the eye. Since 1992, “ the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ruled, based on woefully limited data, that genetically modified foods were ‘substantially equivalent’ to their non-GM counterparts” (Why to Support Labeling). GM food advocates have promised to create more nutritious food that will be able to grow in harsh climate conditions and eventually put an end to world hunger in anticipation of the growing population. There is very little evidence to support these claims and study after study has proven just the opposite. GM crops are not only unsafe to consume, but their growing practices are harmful to the environment, and multinational corporations are putting farmers out of business.
We see the fruits of years of genetic research all around us. Genetically modified foods are everywhere. Biotech seeds yield a hefty portion of the corn, tomatoes, soybeans and other agricultural products and derivatives consumed by the American population on an annual basis (2000, Sunstein). Over 70% of the items Americans find on their supermarket shelves contain genetically modified content (1999, Wastell). We did not get to this point without endless hours of research and testing by dedicated scientists and researchers. This technology however is not without its opposition, in Europe genetically modified food products are aggressively regulated and labeled (2000, Sunstein). Papers have been written that allegedly show these crops not only damage the ecosystem as in the case of the Monarch butterfly but also are a danger to the animal or human who would ingest them as cited by Dr. Arpad Puzstai (1999, Lean).
The term GM foods or GMO (genetically-modified organisms) is most commonly used to refer to crop plants created for human or animal consumption using the latest molecular biology techniques (Whitman, 2000). These plants have been modified in the laboratory to offer desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content. Also, genetic engineering techniques have been applied to create plants with the exact desired trait very rapidly and accurately. For example, this is done by the geneticist isolating the gene responsible for drought tolerance and inserts it into another plant. The new genetically-modified plant will now have gained drought tolerance as well.
In this day and age, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have become a topic of large interest in the media. GMOs are defined as an organism whose genetic structure has been altered by incorporating a gene that will express a desirable trait (Dresbach et al. al. 2013). Often times, these traits that are selected are either beneficial to the consumer or producer. Currently, GMOs are being created at a higher rate than ever before and are being used in the foods that we eat.
How many of you hear the words “genetically modified food” and immediately think “BAD”? How many of you scorn the idea that genetically modified foods are useful? How many of you have been manipulated by the media to think that all biotechnology is evil? Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are organisms that have been genetically spliced to achieve a certain trait. As the demand for a larger food supply is increasing due to population growth, the benefits that GMO foods provide are being hailed as the only solution to the food crisis. However, many people are making inadequately informed decisions, and are pushing them to the back shelf. I will inform you on why genetically modified organisms may be the only way to a stable, safe future for the less fortunate.
Okigbo, R., Iwube, J., & Putheti, R. (2011). An extensive review on genetically modified (GM) foods
Although salmon has not been found to be harmful to people with allergies to shellfish, you should always refrain from serving Salmon to people with known fish allergies as bad reactions could take place. It’s summer time and you know what that means.
Scientists have been changing genomes of plants and animals by integrating new genes from a different species through genetic engineering, creating a genetically modified organism (GMO). Consumers in America have been eating GMOs since 1996, when they went on the market. There are benefits to genetically modifying crop plants, as it improves the crop quality and increases yield, affecting the economy and developing countries. But there are also negative effects from GMOs. Consumption of GMOs has various health effects on both body systems of animals and humans. GMOs also affect the environment, ecosystems and other animal species. The cons outweigh the pros in the case of GMOs.